The Better World Shopping Guide

Erica passed along (I think it's Sarah's?) a little pocket sized book called "The Better World Shopping Guide". betterworldshopper.org What an amazing little resource! I'm going to get one. One of my major goals with changing my spending habits is to really send a message with our money. In the short introduction to this book it says every dollar spent is a vote cast, I so agree. I'm going to really use this guide to help me to make my spending decisions.

BTW, I just updated my "Bulk" post, if you're interested.

Sundance Channel "The Green"

Anyone out there with the Sundance Channel? I just saw in the New Yorker where the Sundance Channel is having a 13 episode series on green living. Unfortunately, it started on April 17th (I am behind in my reading!). It is on every Tuesday at 9pm E/P through July 10th. Each episode focuses on a different aspect of green living... fuel, building, clothing, kids... I think it was pioneered by RFK, Jr. It has lots of celebrities, too.

If anyone gets this channel, please tape them if you can to share!

"Green" fertilizer?

I'm about ready to go to war with my property manager.
It's a long story and I don't want to bore you with it.
We don't fertilze our grass. But apparently the owner's Son came by today and did.
That is where the long story comes in.
Now, Victoria can't go out and play on the grass for a few days. :(
Is there non-toxic, organic, harmless fertilzer for the grass that is safe to play on?
Cause if there is, I'm going to make sure the Son does not fertilze our grass again with that stuff!

2 Green Events

Build it Green Home Tour
Sunday
May 20
10- 5 pm
Self guided tour showcasing 15 green homes in marin/sonoma county

more info at builditgreen.org
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There is a community toxics collection and thermometer exchange (get a free mercury free thermometer) on the following dates:

May 22 cloverdale
June 5 santa rosa
June 19 windsor
July 10 rohnert park

rrwatershed.org

appt required ...call 795-2025

(Info provided by Emily, thanks Emily!)

Sarah's sis in Texas here. I just wanted to share my favorite Earth-saving tip--thrift stores. My son is almost 8 (yes, it FLIES by!) and I shop the thrift stores for nearly all of his clothes (mine, too!). the only things I do not buy thrift are underwear and shoes (unless I can tell they are brand new). I save mucho bucks and keep lots of clothes from ending up in land fills. Also, it is such a great adventure to search out the really great finds. My last one was a pair of brand new Emu Ridge Sherpa boots (retail $130) that I got at a thrift store for $3 (yes, single digit). It's really fun, plus I keep Harper in clothes for low cost that he can use and abuse. Once he outgrows them, I donate them back to the thrift stores. Most of ours around here go to support great causes.

Go Green Mommies. happy to be part of your community!

Eating Out Local

We celebrated our 5th anniversary tonight and when choosing a restaurant we decided to try to find a place that used local food. We found Bistro V (www.bistro-v.com) in Sebastopol. We had a WONDERFUL meal. They have an organic garden in the back of the restaurant and I ordered a salad with greens from Laguna Farms (a local CSA). It is also locally owned by the chef. The chef came out and was talking to the patrons and during our conversation he mentioned that if we enjoyed our meal that he would be grateful if we did a review on-line. He said "if you might want to come back in a year", so I got the impression they might be struggling a bit. I know the restaurant business is tough and we will continue to support the local guys, and especially the ones who make a point to use local food, as much as possible.

Oh, and for the first time a used my to-go container that I brought from home. Did I feel a little silly as I scooped the raviolis from my plate into the Rubbermaid and then put it in my purse? Yes. But I also felt good.

Theodore Roosevelt quote

I just read a quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I feel really pertains to what we are trying to accomplish with our green efforts.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

A lot of us would love to do more if only we had more money, time, energy, and resources. But, we should all feel proud and very much a part of the change with everything we do, no matter how small the effort or result. Remember, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step!

I am now off to pull dandelions - not spray them!

Bulk

I finally did it. I set us up to buy in bulk. This is something I've been wanting to do for quite a while. I plan to buy nuts, cereal, pasta, crackers, dried fruit, snacks, etc.

I was having trouble deciding on the best way to do it. I called Community Market because they have a really big bulk foods section and I wanted to get some tips. I asked if there was a good system to bring your own containers in. They said most people just use the plastic bags because they are so much less bulky than bringing in any kind of container. They said a lot of people re-use their bags over and over again. They said most people use Mason jars which they sell there.

I decided to head to Michael's Crafts (since I had a store credit I've been carrying around forever) and see what kind of jars they had. They had the Mason jars, but I decided on the ones I got because I like the lids better. The guy at Community Market also suggested reusing jars. So as I have a pasta sauce jar, or whatever, that is a nice size I'll wash that and use that too.

I'm really excited about all the packaging I'll be saving. I still need to figure out a good system to reuse the bags, but even worse case, I recycle them, it's still a big reduction in waste. I'm not very good at calculating this kind of thing out (I've noticed you are Sarah Michele- if you do the switch you should do a cost comparison!), but I'm pretty sure there will be a cost savings. And the selection in the bulk is almost always more whole foods and organic selections compared to elsewhere in the store.

And the final bonus is how organized my pantry is. I am loving not having all those half empty boxes crammed in there!

I am still looking for some good cereal sized containers. Sarah M., I looked for the ones from Ikea online but didn't see them. Did you get them at the store?

Watering the Grass

We rent, don't pay for water, and don't water our grass.
Our back yard patch of grass is green and full of life! Yet, we never have to water it.
Which is nice for saving water and all. We did have a leak in the back when we first moved in, but that was fixed long ago.
Our front yard, we don't really water either and the grass stays green, but not as green as the back yard. I personally think I use less water if I water it with the hose, than with the sprinkler system, cause then I won't forget to turn the water off. Our neighbors though, they use the system and water is always running down the street to the sewer system. Wasted water!
And the bad thing about that, is when they put the system on, our water pressure goes way down. Which is a bit frustrating when taking a shower!

To hover or not to hover...

I was at MyGym the other day and had to use the restroom, and this green idea hit me. When I use a public restroom, I tend to hover rather than sit using a butt gasket. That made me think about how using butt gaskets is a waste, so using the hover action is greener and more sanitary! Plus, your leg muscles get a little workout!

Flushing Less...

...and I'm sure you want to hear all about it!

If I wasn't too lazy I'd look up how many gallons it takes to flush a toilet. Anyone know? Anyway, I'll spare you the details, but we've been flusing the toilet a lot less around here. Might be just a little gross, but it's Green!

Green Site

Have you checked out the Press Demo Green site?
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=GREENLIVING&THEMES=GREENLIVING

Less Garbage

I noticed today as I put out the garbage that it was not full. I was surprised by how happy this made me. Now I really THINK about each thing I go to throw away. It will be a challange to try to have the garbage can be less and less full each week.

plastic bags and styrofoam changes

Good news! I know San Francisco recently banned (or about to ban) plastic bags in grocery stores. Austin, Tx is about to do the same thing. I hope it's a trend that will spread quickly across the world. (I dream big)

Also, I have been hearing on the radio "rumors" of banning styrofoam. (I believe containers from restuarants and such) Can we only dream???

Perhaps with Green Mommies growing and getting involved outside the blog (as JK suggested), we can have an impact greater than our own homes and social circles. It would be a beautiful day indeed!

Lightbulbs and plugs

I just got done talking to my sister and got more green enlightened! She told me how she replaced all her bulbs with the CFLs and immediately noticed a huge drop in energy use. I know many of you already have them and have either replaced all or are in the process. I had been thinking I would just replace mine as they burned out (not wanting to seem wasteful) but after talking to her, decided that it will be more beneficial to change them all out at once. Unlike her utility company, PG&E does not offer coupons or rebates for the CFLs, but they did have directions for disposal since the CFLs contain mercury.

They recommend going to www.earth911.org or call 1-877-earth911 to search by zip code for diposal options. Also, www.lamprecycle.org is another source. I went to Earth911 to check it out for us, and it's got a lot of information on various ways to be green. So, instead of telling you all what to do about CFL disposal, I am encouraging you to check out the site for all those other great tips and ideas! IKEA, and soon hopefully more retailers, also will take your burned out bulbs to recycle. (Hmmm... long drive to Emeryville for that, hopefully there's a closer option!)

Also, she let me know that plugs with the larger box end (and those, like my printer, where the box is further down the cord) draw the same amount of energy even if the appliance/equipment is not attached to it or turned on. These are like the ones for mobile phones, computers, camera chargers, etc... So unplug 'em ladies!! :-)

The Future of Green Mommies

I’ve been thinking about how this Green Mommies blog might have the potential to develop into something more, and I wanted to discuss this with all of you.

I think the idea of adopting a green space and having our name out in the public really got me thinking- maybe it’s time to move forward with some of the ideas I’ve had. My dream is for Green Mommies to be a resource for Sonoma County Mom’s who like all of us, want to do the right thing, but need a little help.

Does this idea sound interesting, and would you like to be a part of it? If so, I think we should have a brainstorming session to talk about next steps.

Some Recycling Answers

I just talked to a very nice gal named Karina at the Sonoma County Eco desk. I told her about our blog and she said if we had any more questions (I assured her we would) we could email her at refkarina@sonoma-county.org or call her directly at 565-3668. Here's what I learned...

* #2 and #4 bags can go to all grocery stores, along with any plastic that has that same feel. Not all plastic is labled, as you know.

* The packages that have cardboard on the back and then a hard plastic over the front- both the plastic and the cardboard can be recycled. I always wondered about that flimsy plastic, if it could be recycled. So that's good to know.

* Tin foil can be recycled. The shiny wrappers that cereal bars, (EnviroKid etc), comes in can't.

* Straws go in the trash

Adopt- A -Green Space

I grabbed the flyer at the community center today( I dunno if you read my comment on the other post or not) and it seems like this adopt a green space program may be just what we are looking for!

A quick summary of what it is :
We adopt a space somewhere is Santa Rosa ( Sarah B. I know you don't live here, but would you still be interested?). As a community group (Green Mommies) we would commit to that space for a whole year. We would clean it up, weed, perhaps plants some flowers and just maintain it in general. A month after adopting the site they will put up a metal sign in our space that says "This Green site adopted by Green Mommies of Santa Rosa", or something like that...

I think that this would be a GREAT experience and educational opportunity for all of our kids! It would be fun to meet up at "our" site once in a while and have a clean up day or something like that...

I am really excited about this idea, what are all of your thoughts? It doesn't have to cost any money, just a commitment of time and energy. If there is another program that everyone likes better I am all for that too, I just really like the whole concept.

The Eating Local Thing

I know we're all trying to be more conscious about this. No Impact Man's blog (under cool blogs) had a good post on that and talked about the new book, The 100 Mile Diet. Their website is interesting too, 100milediet.org

Packing peanuts

Okay, I have always hated these styrofoam peanuts, and yesterday a package arrived for us full of them. Now I am loathing them even more because (stupid me) I didn't get them tossed before Avery got a hold of the box and dumped them all over the living room and proceded to scatter them everywhere!!!!! AHHHHH!!! Well, he's having fun, that's something.

I wish more companies would switch to the cornstarch ones. I wonder what little ol' us can do to help influence that change. ????

On a side note: Thanks Jennifer, for the Gaiam catalog. I think I am going to try some things out of it. (bamboo sheets/bras/undies/mop) I wanted to consider the steam vac since we have all hard surface flooring, but it says "imported" and I just know that will be CHINA! I might call them and if not, consider it. Or searc out a similar one around here. Did you get the compost crock you circled? I am thinking of the green one since I will be carrying it up the hill to empty it into the larger one.

Avery hs just said it's time to scoop up the peanuts, so off I go to take advantage of this cooperation!

Procrastination

I've always thought of procrastination as a bad thing, but I'm learning to make it my friend. Here's how. The way I used to shop could pretty much be described as "want it- go get it". Now I'm finding a new way. Want it, then wait. What I have noticed is that a few things happen during this waiting period.

*I find I don't really need it after all
*I find something else I already have that will fill the need
*The thing magically finds it's way into my life without me buying it (as a gift)

Now I will admit, the way I have found this works is kind of a combination of being lazy, cheep, overwhelmed, and not allowing myself to go to Target. But I think I stumbled upon something good.

Now I think I'll go fold some clothes.... nah!

Time and water saving clean

I'm not sure what anyone else's routine is, but to save time and water, I try to clean the shower while I am in it. I also have a grout brush that I use to scrub without cleaners in between regular cleanings. It's something I have always done since it's what my mom did. I know the time length those of you with babies get to shower is precious and few, so this will either work in your favor or not... depending on how you look at it. :-)

Giving credit where due

I realized that I was not giving my hubby enough credit in the green department on this blog. I thought about it more and he has been a driving force on some of the changes we have made over the years and has been very supportive of the changes I propose. I think his busy schedule the past year has made certain efforts harder for him because he's just plain exhausted. But, he is who bought our first two cloth shopping bags a few years ago and is the one who reminds me to bring them to the store... of which I have not been good doing until recently.

It was even his suggestion to do more clean-up activities. We particpated in the annual coastal clean-up my first Sept at Lucasfilm and had a lot of fun (and won $500 for most unusual object found - a Civil War era wooden boot sole with some nail heads and leather still attached!). We had big plans to do more of it on our own, but I got pregnant and well, got busy and distracted! I know we both would love to get involved again, maybe when Avery is a little more manageable in such an activity and when he can really be helpful in the process. We think it will be a great learning tool for him, for sure!

Maybe someday in the future, when we have the time or energy (seems so far away!), we can all do some "adopt a spot thing" (or whatever) in the name of Green Mommies! (well, maybe Green Families)

Styrofoam bypass

I sent my father-in-law to Chili's to pick up their salsa and chips (a favorties of ours!). I armed him with a tuppeware and Whole Foods shopping bag. Chili's put the salsa in the tupperware for us instead of the styrofoam containers they usually use, and he carried it and the chips (in a plastic bag - need to figure out the alternative solution there) home in the WF bag instead of their plastic 'to go" bag.

I wonder how many other restaraunts would be willing to do the same for take out?? I know Jennifer and Calvin did some creative take out packaging recently, too.

Trash Can

I'm joining you with the smaller trash can.
We did have a 35 gallon before Victoria, but then got the 64 for all those diapers.
Now we don't have alot of diapers or trash, so save us money I switched to the 35 gallon again.
Now if I can get Dan to remember to take the trash out every Thursday night!

Taking Shorter Showers

This was one area I never thought I'd budge. I LOVE my long hot shower at the end of the day. The other day I read what a difference it would make if everyone made their shower just 1 minute shorter. That, I can do. I set up my shower products in a row and now I just go down the line and silly as it sounds this has helped me to shave off a minute or two. I think I spaced out a lot before inbetween steps (come on you're sleep deprived Mom's too, sometimes it takes a lot to remember what comes after the shampoo!).

The Organic Bath Co.

Well, their products have everything I had hoped for - except they are made in China. Oh well. I'll give them away. I was looking forward to using it since I finally used up my other bath stuff today. I will be now looking at the "made in" label on everything. I would have never guessed that's where it was made.

So, my desire for a Made in China boycott (as best I can) got stronger today when I found out that the tainted pet food came from there (they apparently added melamine (a plastic) to boost protein levels) and they knew about the ingredient. And then some drugs (cough syrup) came from there that were to contain glycerin, but they substituted antifreeze because it was cheaper... and of course, the 89 kids who took it died. (the drugs ended up in another country, not here... but it's the principle.)

So read those labels and know where your stuff comes from!!!! :-)

Kid's shampoos

Finally having finished my Costco-sized J&J Baby Wash, I was ready for something natural. I spoke with someone at Whole Foods and she recommended Burt's Bees (they were sold out) and California Baby (bubble bath comes with a bubble blowing wand - the Mommy and Daddy version comes with two - wink, wink).

I chose CA Baby Tea Tree & Lavender shampoo and body wash (all-in-one) and Chamomile & Herbs bubble bath. I'll let you know how they smell out of the bottle (okay in) if I can convince Avery into the tub (bathing is the latest battle). I am hoping the bubble wand will be the deal maker! Oh and California Baby is not tested on animals, no animal ingredients, biodegrable, non-invasive, sustainable ingredients, made in the USA (CA, duh) and has no tears formula. For those who will need it, it easily removes cradle cap and removes lice (not looking forward to those times).

She said that Healthy Times has an ingredient (can't remember what one) that is not good. She thought it stupid of them to not have removed it yet. So, steer clear there.

I will miss the classic smell that Johnson & Johnson has, but looking forward to a truly cleaner little boy!

Battery Recycling

I apologize if any of this has been covered. I still haven't read through all past postings.

Pixar has a battery recycling program. I have a container I toss the old ones in and when it's full, Sequoia takes it to work. If any of you need a place to send yours, you can send them my way.

Also, at the Petaluma Fairgrounds May 4 and 5, they are having a free electronics recycling dropoff. I saw the sign as I passed by, so I don't have details. I'll see what else I can find out.

Cheese

I am not sure how much anyone goes to an old post to see about additional comments (I have left some with my catch-up reading). So in case you are not, I thought I'd mention this in a new post. Walking distance from my house is a cheese factory. I cannot imagine it being anything but local, and hopefully this weekend we will wander that way and try it out - it's been on our list of "to do's" for a while. I'll let you guys know how it is, and you can get some next time you are this way for a play date - which is hopefully soon!

I used to do like Jennifer is doing, but got lazy. (it's an evil thing) But now that we have a Cuisinart, I think I will be shredding my own cheeses again. (Yes, I know, electricity will be used in that process, and yes, I could use the arm workout, but at least I'll save on plastic - one step at a time - I need to invest in a good manual shredder)

Dishwashing

I don't have a dishwasher. It's torture some days, I tell you. But, it makes me have to think about water consumption and I finally have the solution that seems to use the least amount of water while still letting me get things clean. But, while scrubbing away this morning, reminiscing of the days I did have a machine, I thought of an energy saving tip for the rest of you lucky people: Turn off the heat dry setting. I'm sure you all have already done it. But, thought I'd share.

Also, I bought a glass bottle with oil dispensing tip to put my dish soap in. To save on soap use, I do a 1:1 ratio of the soap to water. Dishes still get clean with plenty of bubbles to spare and less product in thw water system at a time!

We already switched to the foam hand soaps for the same reason (and I like the foam!), but I am considering this with shampoo and such. My washing machine already needs only half the soap my other one did, so that helps, too.

Products for Pet People

We have both a cat and a dog, and both (the cat more than the dog) make a impact on the environment.

For doggie poop bags, we found BioBags at Western Farm Center (near the train area of Santa Rosa - sits between 7th and 8th off Wilson) They are made from cornstarch so they biodegrade quickly and easily. They are dark green to provide "privacy" and hold up pretty well. The seams are fragile only in getting them out of the box.

For the kitty box I recently discovered two different types of litter. One is Swheat Scoop and it's made from wheat. It's scoopable (not sure about flushable because I don't like that idea) and has worked really well. (I also don't scoop it - just change it weekly) Not a lot of tracking and dust, and good odor control. The other kind I recently bought is Yesterday's News made from recycled newspaper. We have yet to try it, but looks to at least be low dust. Disclaimer: Auscaar's (the cat) box is in the garage, so the odor comments are based on that size of a room and getting fresh air in there daily... Both litters I have found at various grocery stores and Target.

I am still trying to figure out a more environmental disposal of the litter from my garbage bag routine I have now. This may seem bad, but he's old - 17.5 years! - so who knows how much longer it will be an issue.

Stepping Up Recycling Continued

Great, it sounds like there's a lot of interest on this- here's what I've learned in the last 30 minutes or so (gotta love nap time)...

*Unless you're in Petaluma plastic bags can not go in the single stream recycle bin (Sarah, if you don't already know, I'd check to see if they need to be bagged though) I got this info from the recorded info on plastics at the Eco Desk 707-565-DESK(3375).

*Check out these 2 web sites to educate yourself about the different types of plastic. If it says #2 or #4, for sure it can be taken to a grocery store. I have a call into the Eco Desk to find out about other plastics without a number on them. It looks like if you get to know the properties of different plastics that there are others not labeled that can still be included. (I'm thinking about all the packaging I saved when we were unwrapping presents).

www.plasticbagrecycling.org/moreInfoPub.php
www.recyclenow.org/r_plastics.html

So it looks like it's going to take a little work to get this all figured out... a fun little challenge! :)

Stepping Up the Recycling

We're pretty good about recycling and we're getting even better. I've decided the next step is to recycle even if I have to take some extra steps and it can't go in the single stream blue bin. The two items I have decided to start recycling/getting back into use is plastic bags/plastic film and Styrofoam. I need to do a bit more research on the plastic bags/film but I know they can't go in the single stream but they can be dropped off at grocery stores. A lot of the plastic wrap that packaging comes in can go in there too, I think. That's the part I still need to sort out. And Styrofoam is very hard to truly recycle but a lot of packing stores will take it to reuse.

The boys got so many toys for their birthday! I was really conscious about recycling all the packaging and wrapping (yes wrapping paper can go in the blue bin- I called at Christmas) I possibly could. That led me to the recycling guide in the phone book and my decision to start recycling above and beyond the big blue bin.

name thing

Okay, this has nothing to do with being green, just with being silly. I thought with Jennifer being "Green Mommy", we were all supposed to have "handles". So, with Sequoia's input, I was "Eco-Mommy". Then I get on and see no one else has a greenie nickname. Then I felt silly, so I changed it to my name (and my real nickname - well the nickname of my nickname - to deferentiate from Sarah H)

And with that out of the way. you may now resume your normally blogged greeness... :-)

"Priced by weight" produce bags

So one change I made a while back was to not bag my produce if it was priced per piece (versus weight - unless I was just buying one) and if it were something that could withstand the basket, and bagging at checkout without being ruined (unlike lettuce). Well, it bothers me everytime I have to grab a plastic bag. So, today I thought I would find some sort of lightweight mesh material and make a few bags. Then I would go to various markets/stores and see if they would allow me to use them - why not, especially if it adds a little weight - they would benefit. Anyway, if I can find the material and get some made, anyone interested in some?

Also, if anyone finds good prices on canvas shopping bags, I'd love to hear from where. We have two, and they each cost $10. I'd like to get something cheaper so I can have more.

Abundant Forests

Another thing I noticed while reading through my magazine tonight was an ad for Abundant Forests. www.abundantforests.org I took the quiz and am a Green Giant! Yea! Anyway, they have an area called "Plant it Forward". It's got a lot of great ideas on Renew, Reuse, Respect (tm). They have a thing where you pick 3 things and tell 3 friends, and then they pick and tell and so on. I won't do it that way. I thought to just share the whole list by sharing the site. And you can contribute ideas, too. A great way to reach even more people! I sure hope what they say about the amount of forests is true. (I got that answer wrong)

Food safety and organics

I was reading my latest Family Circle magazine tonight (Sequoia's STILL at work!) and they had an article on food safety/nutrition. Jennifer and I were discussing it last week (and Erica, too?) This article addresses that and organics. Anyway, here are some highlights:

Fish/seafood: They say to avoid fish high in the food chain (shark, swordfish, albacore tuna and king mackerel) as they tend to have the highest levels of mercury. They recommend choosing farmed trout, shrimp, tilapia, wild Pacific salmon and haddock - especially if you are pregnant, thinking of being pregnant or have children under 3. The Sierra Club study found one in five women has unsafe levels of mecury - which is linked to neurological disorders and learning disabilities.

Meat (beef and chicken): As we would all think, steer clear of antibiotic and growth hormone treated animals. The antibiotics caused untreatable strains of bacteria to develop and hormones raise our risk of cancer. Plus, the hormones cause mastitis (infection of the udder - women can get it breastfeeding, too) and treatment requires more antibiotics (seems redundant and therefore unnecessary, huh???) and the (okay warning here for weak stomachs...) pus resulted from said mastitis can get into the milk. Okay, I am ill. To avoid milk from treated cows make sure it claims to be from cows not treated with rbST. Here's another incentive to buy local and from smaller farmers!! I have been buying at the very least the non rbST milk, but try to get organic when they have it in stock.

They also went on to explain some labeling used for meats:

Certified organic: manufacturers and farmers meet standards ensuring animals were treated humanely and not given hormones, antibiotics or feed grown with pesticides. This is also called USDA Organic and is a closely regulated designation.

Natural: meat and poultry is free from all preservatives, additives, and other scary chemicals. Labeling here is not strictly regulated so animals here could have been given hormones or antibiotics. Look for "certified organic", "hormone free" or "antibiotic free" labels for quality assurance.

Grass-fed or pasture raised: cattle grazed in outside pastures giving them more Omega-3 and vitamin E and less saturated fat. USDA is debating a defintion here and says to look into it further for specifics on how that particular meat was handled. (ie. talk to the butcher)

Free-range: chicken and other poultry had plenty of fresh air, sunshine and room to roam. No government approved definition, so this apparently could mean they were in a pen open to the air - look for "certified humane" or "free farmed" for quality assurance.

Fruits and veggies: As we are all quickly finding out, organic is not cheap. In fact, it can break our budgets! (After what I learned on chicken, I am going to be spending the cash!) The article acknowledges this and gives two lists - one of fruits and veggies you want to always buy organic, and the other where it's okay to go regular. The lists are based on the amounts of pesticides used (obviously, these are non-organic if pesticides are present). But, it's a way to help cut corners when needed.

Those they recommend going organic: peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes (imported), spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.

Those they claim have very low amounts of pesticides used: onions, avacados, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and papaya.

With that I am feeling very good about my organic spinach purchase today, but not so much about my potatoes (for some bizarre reason I have never really thought of organic potatoes).

In the beginning of Avery's solid food days, I was religious about everything being organic. I even made some of his food - not long lived! (you know, when I was pregnant, I had big plans for being a true "earth mother". A baby who wouldn't let you put him down will shoot the best plans down!) Anyway, I have guilt over not being so religious as time went on. I blame it on laziness of getting to a Whole Foods and being cheap. Well, a few extra dollars will be money well spent on our better health. And perhaps those higher food bills will force me to be less wasteful of the food. (I tend to buy something with plans for a recipe and then never make it only for the produce to go bad) Plus, with where we live now, I can walk to both Whole Foods (a bit of a trek, I'll admit) and to another market that offers a wide selection in organics (this one much closer, but again, the selection isn't as wide as WF).

Here's to better eating and shopping!

It's Turn Your TV Off Week...

... and we hear all about how great it is for our families (we Green Mommies don't care about that, J/K), but what about saving energy?!

Sounds like a good enough excuse for me. I got Calvin to agree if he could just watch Hero’s tonight and then it's off for the rest of the week. The rules we're making for our family is 1 kid’s DVD a day is still ok, other than that no TV. So, if you want, decide what works for your family and give it a try...

www.tvturnoff.org

April 23-29 2007

OK I am Convinced...

I suppose I could have posted this on the comments of the post below, but I guess I wanted my own shiny new post for this one. I, Sarah " I will never ever do cloth diapers" Heinrich, have decided to go to the cloth :) I am going to go with a laundering service, Tidee Didee. Jennifer, Emily and my friend across the street all use them, so I feel comfortable with that. I would love some input on how many you guys order each week. I think I will start with the 80 and see how that goes...

I am excited about this because it'll be (as it was Jennifer's) my biggest Green change. I am committing to three months, hoping that by that point it'll be second nature and I wont even want to go back to disposables.

There are certain things I can't do to go Green, for example I formula feed and of course that creates a lot more waste than nursing (just to add to the bottle feeding guilt). Cloth diapering is something that I can do and I guess in a way, in my mind at least, it makes up for that formula waste just a little bit.

Anyway, Ill keep you updated! Thank you everyone for all the inspiring ideas!

Cloth Diapers...

...are even easier than I thought. The last post I did about them I said you needed to scrape the poop off (that's what the delivery guy told me). Emily said she didn't think I needed to do that. I called Tidee Didee, and she's right. I asked if the wipe could go in too. They said yes, they take all the solids out before the diapers get cleaned. Wouldn't want that job!!!

So now it's basically as easy as getting rid of a disposable. I just take the whole thing and thow it into the diaper pail. Easy!

I'm loving the cost savings of cloth too by the way. Oh, and I also took Emily's suggestion (thanks Emily) and stocked up on wraps at New to You in Sebastopol. From time to time the wrap does need to go in the wash. But it still almost always keeps everything contained. It's nice having plenty of them so if some are in the wash, or drying, I always have one handy.

Post from Emily

Hi Jennifer
Here are a few things for the blog if you want to post (I still don't know how to post)

Home Depot now has Eco-Options (environmentally friends products). They have it in detail on their website.

Harvest for the Hungry Garden Fundraiser - April 28 2007 annual plant-sale and fund raiser for a local non-profit community garden that grows organic food for food-banks and soup-kitchens.

selling planters and garden related handcrafts, with all proceeds going to the garden.

behind the parking lot of Christ Church United Methodist, at 1717 Yulupa Ave, Santa Rosa,
from 9 am - 3 pm.

.......

Message from Jennifer-
Do any of you co-author's have tips for Emily on how to post? Since it's different on my end maybe you could share something that would help.

You guys are all doing such great posts latley. I love it!

Jen

Starbucks refillables

I know some of you used to work there, and most of us frequent it, so I thought I'd start my research here on the subject of "bring your own containers". I have seen people bring in their travel mugs to get coffee, but can that same principle work with iced chai's??
I will still go to SB periodically, but would love to have a reusable container.

TetraPak

TetraPak is the packaging that many food items are now being offered in, mostly milk and juice boxes and the soymilks. Anyway, I could never seem to find a recycle label on them and started to wonder how great they are. I was happy to find they are recyclable, and the company works in close partnership with suppliers who provide the wood pulp needed for the inner core to make sure they are foresting in a sustainable and renewable, responsible manner. They have a program in placeto monitor and rate these suppliers, working closely with them to ennsure quality of the forestation process. They also work towards minimal enviroment impact. So, I was happy to learn that since my new favorite"treat" drink (hempmilk) comes in those. www.tetrapak.com

Coffee, Tea and Cleaners

Coffee: So I went to Sacred Grounds website and learned they are located in Arcata, CA. Not sure where that is specifically, but was happy to find it in CA. I liked what they do and stand for (organic/fair trade), so am keeping them in mind for my next coffee purchase. I am hoping to find some in the stores, but have a feeling I won't be able to. Sequoia's dad is the big coffee drinker in our house (as I do not and Sequoia rarely does) and I feel like if I don't get proactive on what we brew, he will just buy the cheapest thing he can find (and that usually translates into not eco-friendly). I am curious to learn what you all think of the taste of your recent organic purchases of coffee.

Tea: I am a PGTips addict. This is an English tea from, yup, England. Wanting to do local, I decided to at least learn more about this company in case I can't break the habit. I was happy to learn they are in partnership with ETP (Ethical Tea Partnership). The ETP works to monitor conditions of tea production around the world to ensure that tea estates comply with the relevant laws and union agreements of their country in the areas of employment (including minimum age and wage levels); education; maternity; health and safety; housing and basic rights. The ETP strives to work in close partnership with tea producers and other stakeholders to encourage open dialogue to ensure appropriate living and working conditions of tea estate workers and seek improvements where needed. I was happy I researched this site if for no other reason than to have learned about ETP.

Cleaners: I also went to Method's website. They, too, are focused on biodegrable (mostly vegan), non-toxic, non-animal tested, natural products. They are constantly trying to improve their packaging, too, in order to reduce pollution in processing and increase recycling possibilities and the use of recycled materials. www.methodhome.com I still want more bulk options to reduce the amount of plastic containers I do end up recycling.

my bEarthday

Every year I get so excited for my birthday, probably my kid side coming out :) And it's always a regular day and I end up feeling a little disappointed. I woke up this morning and tried to figure out what to do...

I decided since it is also Earth Day, I would do a combo celebration. I wanted to do some green errands I haven't gotten around to and just have a relaxing, fun day. I wanted to consider our impact on the environment and our health in all of our decisions today :)

We had switched most of our 38 lights in our house to CFLs when we moved in, but had some rarely used lights that had old light bulbs. So I went around and counted what we needed, we hopped in the hybrid and drove to Freidman's (local store) to buy them as well as some clothesline. Then we went to Sebastopol to check out Earth Child (thanks Sarah B!). I was interested in checking out the store and we bought a locally made silk scarf like the ones used in music class for Emma.

It was lunch time so we decided on the Sebastopol Brewery for lunch (local restaurant!) It was soooooo good...

Then we went home for the kids' naps. When they got up, we went to Pacific Market for some mostly organic produce, organic milk and organic fair trade coffee :) I was almost out of coffee and that's critical!

We headed home, Matt switched out the lights then went to throw the old ones away. I thought I remembered that you just can't toss out incandescent light bulbs, so we researched it and found where we can bring them so they are disposed of properly. We ate Mary's (local again!) for dinner.

Earlier, when I was thinking about what to do today, I daydreamed about buying new cleaning supplies, new canvas and produce bags, new water bottles for all of us, donating to carbonfund.org and greendimes.com, buy smart strips or something like them... etc. But obviously that's not realistic or we would be broke, so I researched them instead and we'll discuss and think about what it best for us. I researched what are the best plants to have in your house for cleaner indoor air quality, and Matt researched good trees to plant in our yard. We talked all day about what we'd like to do in the future...

I had a really good birthday this year :) It was a regular day (besides eating out twice - yum!), and I hope the rest of our days are this kind of regular... I hope we keep doing our part as much as we can, incorporating new ways to live as the time comes and encouraging Emma and Abby to do the same in their world which is hopefully better than it would have been had we all done nothing.

Happy Earth Day!

Hope everyone enjoyed the day. I've made a commitment to live everyday like it's Earth Day. It's exciting to see that so many others are making living sustainably a priority too. Let's all keep up the great work! It's fun too, isn't it!?

I was thinking it would be fun to have a monthly Green Mommy get-together. Let's make our first one in May, how does that sound? If there's interest I'll send out an inviation via email.

Got a few minutes to read???

Okay, I finally made it back to the blog! I have enjoyed catching up on all the reading tonight, and am feeling a little more in the loop again. And I promise to have shorter, concise entries in the future. I am just playing catch-up tonight! Bear with me...

At Target I found (and purchased) some vegan shampoo called Pureology (not cheap, but what is that's natural these days???). It smells okay, lathers great and is made in the USA! I am actually pretty happy with how my hair has reacted to it. I am trying to stay with products made here or if not, then free trade items, when possible. I am also trying to avoid unnecessary ingredients in body and home products. Also, I focus on ones with no animal testing and avoid "made in China" - which is hardest when it comes to kid items.... read: toy cars! I am starting to steer Avery away (he has so many anyways)... but it will be a longer process I think. Baby steps!

Also at Target, they sell the Method brand of cleaning products. I am sure there are products out there that may be even more eco-friendly, but I have enjoyed these so far, and they are supposed to be eco-friendly. Anyway, they have come up with dryer sheets, and I love them. Now we have hand soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, kitchen and bath cleaners. I am open to other products, however! I do want to find bulk (preferably refillable) products though. I hate tossing (even in the recycle bin) those containers all the time.

I can't find eco-friendly pull-ups. Anyone know where I can get them? I am considering ordering online - should I find any there. I am a little worried about Avery missing his "Cars" though (and disappearing stars) and not being as cooperative about this process. But, nothing ventured.... And I am hoping to get him into cloth underpants here soon (I bought organic ones recetnly!). He has been requesting naked time lately, so I might get away with not much at all! :-) But, he still has this mental stronghold on diapers (7th gen) ... only at night now, though!

I am so happy to hear how on-board all the hubbies are with this green way of living. I know Sequoia likes the idea, but I think the efforts overwhelm him at times. I am hoping that when his schedule slows down a bit, that he will be coaxed on board, too. There's a laziness that has to be overcome by us all... just different levels of it. But, as with most husbands and wives... if she's happy, he's happy! And with that, I should get some decent participation.

I have been working very slowly, but diligently, towards a greener way of living for years now. I am so thrilled to have a network of friends who share this interest - and with such enthusiasm! It's been a difficult road as I have felt as the lone driving force in my family. But, it does take discipline, and I know I can use any excuse to taper my needless shopping. And Avery is the best motivation I have to stay on track!

Thanks to everyone for the food and product tips. I am always looking for healthier alternatives and places to get them. And I think I wrote that we tried the Healthy Living Hempmilk in chocolate and vanilla. (Whole Foods) Both tastes good to me! Avery likes them, too. Sequoia not so much. :-) Anyway, for those concerned with the affects of soy consumption, this may be an alternative. But I do not know much about it, so who knows if it, too, has health questions tied to it. Everything in moderation, and all is well, right??? Also the hempmilk has the Omega 3, 6 and 9 that are great for heart health, lowering bad cholesterol, building immune system and brain function.

And to comment on the local vs organic: I, too, have been reading a lot on the benefits of local vs org. There's a good chance around here to get local that is organic, and I would say that's the best - outside of growing everything yourself! But, I am trying to buy local, and not just with produce. I, too, am hoping to make farmer's market are more regular event. And for the meat eaters, I am going to check out that butcher off Guerneville near Willowside. They are supposed to use only local, vegetarian fed (free range), no-drugs/chemicals animals. I am hoping the slaughter methods are kosher, too. (make me feel a little better about it) If Sequoia and I could go vegetarian, we would. We have tried. Raised in Texas, it's almost in our genetic make-up to eat meat (though we are mainly chicken people). I try to go as veggie as I can get away with through the week... but I have his dad I cook for, too. Sequoia doesn't like to eat veggies much, too. He did fall in love with the sauted spinach I made tonight... so there's a start!

Speaking of organic, I want to find lawn fertilizers and such that are organic (and work). Also, as soon as I get my container (compost), I will be willing to take coffee grounds. (I won't mess with transporting your peels and egg shells) I am hoping to get my veggie garden planted in the next month. Speaking of coffee, anyone heard of Sacred Grounds? I keep hearing ads for them, and thought I might order some.

I am also trying to cut down on the amount of paper towels we use. I know going to cloth will increase my laundry, but we have brand new front load W/D that use lots less water/energy. So, I feel better about that... plus with my eco-friendly soap! It will be a hard habit change just in the grabbing a cloth rather than tearing the paper piece off. I had switched to the select-a size paper towels, which did cut down the waste some. Anyway, like Jennifer has done, I plan to just sew some absorbent cotton napkins and cleaning rags. If I can find organic cotton, great. If not, I might take a page out of Jennifer's book and shop at Salvation Army or Goodwill for clothes or other cloth items and make them from that. I am not the greatest of seamtresses, but I can sew a straight line and would make extra if anyone wants a few to test run at home as well. Let me know.

Also, not that this will be much of an issue for much longer here (should all keep going so well), but I consider making wipes, too. I remember how when Avery was first born (and we spent his first week in the hospital) they used warm water on wash cloths as wipes. I remember missing that when he came home. I think his hiney did, too, as the wipes were cold! And the cloths cleaned so much better and easier. Anyway, I always thought they were great, but couldn't face the extra special load of wash with everything else. (Again, laziness conquered the better good!)

On deodorants: some of us discussed this last week... I switched to just deodorant years ago with all I had learned about the aluminum ingredient in antipersperants being linked to breast cancer. My mom is a survivor and I have had some weird things related... Anyway, there are more natural selections out now that are even found in regular stores. (I use Clearly Natural Sport as it has the cleaner smell - some of "Tom's" smell a bit strong or weird to me) But what you want to stay away from is the antipersperant. Deodorants are okay as long as they don't contain that aluminum. (which is mostly an antipersperant) I will warn those who want to switch... there will be a de-tox phase and it get stinky. It's your body releasing all those toxins it hasn't been able to naturally get rid of since the onset of antipersperant use. It took me a couple of weeks - but I (wisely ha ha) did it in the summer. I just kept some baby wipes handy to freshen up at work. Luckily a group of us did it together, so we stank together! :-) If you feel you have to use antipersperant, try a non-PCP (flurocarbon) type and hold a bit further away than you might normally.... and don't do it just after shaving. (your pores are more suseptable)

We are slowly replacing our light bulbs with flourescents. I need to find ecomony packs of them...any tips? I am horrible about going to Costco - because I end up with a cart load of stuff I don't need - much like my Target trips!

I am hoping to get things around here more and more organized so I can spend more time researching green related things to share. I had a whole list I have been compiling, but it's in the other room and I am typing this in bed. The laziness of the night is winning... I'll try to review it and contribute those thoughts another time.

Congrats to Sarah H on here garbage shrinkage! I have noticed ours is not filling up as full anymore... I may try to save money and order the smaller. We are overfilling our blue can, though. I have gotten his dad to be conscientious about recycling.

And way-to-go Jennifer on One a Day. I am impressed even if it's 1 a week. I will admit I am not as disciplined, perhaps, but I do have thoughts towards a better eco-me daily and try to make the best decisions towards that with all I do. I falter, but I try. And that's something, right? Greatest journey starts with the first step.... even the baby ones! I am hoping that if I can get Sequoia as excited (or interested) in all this green way of thinking and living, that it will be like wildfire around here. But, I am happy he tries as he does, because the little efforts count, too. But, he has hang-ups related to his childhood that will prove as roadblocks to certain things. We may not end up 100% where I'd like us to be with this, but if I can get us as a family to average 85-90%, I'll feel victorious. And with a great support system from all of you, I know I will continue my efforts.

Okay, so I was in bed typing this and my computer decides to shut down without warning. I am thinking that I am cursed wehn it comes to this blog. I cannot tell you how many problems I keep having getting on and such... anyway, I get up to plug it in and WHEW! all is still there. I was going to freak if all this vanished - again! Well, I decided to look for that list, and it's nowhere. So, perhaps I'll remember anything I could possibly have forgotten... :-)

OH and I am totally intersted in any reading materials that might help me. I know some are being passed around...

Good night...

Teach Children to Love the Earth

In honor of my boy's birthday, today's post is about teaching them to love the earth. Part of loving the earth is doing small things to take care of her. I know that's what we've all been trying to do. At the same time I do this I want to help them to develop earth-friendly habits. It warmed my heart the other day when I had been running the water a bit too long, and David looked at me with a very serious look on his face and said, "Mommy, don't waste the water." The other part of teaching them to love the earth is to let them enjoy the outdoors. I think this includes getting them out into nature as often as possible. Our family plans on making that a priority this summer. In the past I have not been a real enthusiastic camper, but I'm really going to try to get into it, for them. And hey, I bet I'll end up having a great time too. We also want to become a biking family. I think that will be a fun way to enjoy the outdoors more as well.

A couple other things...

The Oprah yesterday on green living was really good. You can check out www.oprah.com for tips if you missed the show.

and

Have a HAPPY EARTH DAY tomorrow!!!

Reusable Water Bottle

I am going to cut down on my use of plastic water bottles. We have a water filter and I fill up the water bottles many times before I recycle them, but when I found the Sigg water bottles I saw that they had many advantages to reusing plastic ones.

* Don't have to keep wondering about plastic leeching into my water
* Won't have water bottles all over the car and house
* Have my own "special" bottle, that I'll enjoy using
* Less water plastic water bottles = less strain on the earth in terms of energy, water (it takes something like 4 times as much water as is in the container to produce it), and less waste.

And the fun part... you can choose from a lot of fun designs and even pick the type of top you want. Above is the one I ordered, I can wait to get it.

Here is the link I ordered mine from, they offer free shipping.

www.swissknifeshop.com/Products/-gt-SIGG-Switzerland

The can is half empty,...

which is actually a good thing :) Seems like the 35 gallon challenge wasn't that much of a challenge after all. We literally had a bag and a half of garbage all week. I religiously sorted everything and ended up needing to throw out very little. My recycling was filled to the top though. I think you all have the smaller cans now, but if you don't you should try it! You can do it!

On another note I completely forgot about "Hangin' out day" on Thursday. Honestly, I didn't do any laundry anyway :) And didn't it rain? Anyway, I am going to try in this weekend, even if I have to hang things inside, Ill let you know how that goes.

Plastic Bags

Now that I'm using re-usable bags almost all the time when I go shopping, I decided I wanted to buy some earth friendly bags to have around the house for garbage bags etc., I found these. They are bio-degradable and PVC plasticizer-free. I admit I have no idea what that means. I need to do some more research. There's also bags that are on the market made of recycled plastic. Anyone know much about this?

Green Oprah!

Tomorrow (Friday) on Oprah's show, she is going to show some of her favorite green things.

Party Favors

Today I went to Kindred (link under green guides-gifts) and got these cute finger puppets to give as party favors at the boy's birthday party. Kindred is an all fair trade store, LOTS of wonderful gift items. It is fun to shop knowing that you are doing a bit of good by helping a artisan on the other side of the world to support their family.

Community Market

I feel like I hit the jackpot! Today I shopped at Community Market (link in Green Guides-Food) for the first time. I enjoyed the shopping trip so much. One of my major goals was to find new products and change the way I shop. I think I will be doing a lot of shopping at Community Market. Just the store itself embodies some of the values that are important to me; it's worker-run, local, and vegetarian. It was so nice for me to be in a store where I knew everything I pulled off the shelf was vegetarian. I know the non-vegetarian's might be hesitant to visit a "weird little vegetarian market", but it really has a lot to offer.

Here's a list of great things about CM:
* Best selection of natural cleaning products I've seen
* Best selection of green household products I've seen
* Very nice natural beauty department, with bulk shampoo, etc. organized much nicer than Whole Foods, and more selection too
* Great selection of bulk foods
* Lots of healthy kid snacks
* Nice size, it has just what I needed. I felt like they really pick the best of what's out there. So the store is half the size of a regular store, and because of this I could get the shopping done much faster
* Great healthy bread selection. I didn't feel like I had to pick up every loaf trying to find the one without yucky stuff added and the most whole grains, any one I picked up was good
* Very nice people who seemed happy to be working there
* Good produce. I got fair trade organic bananas! All organic produce. Most were labeled where they were from.

That's all I can think of for now, I need to get to bed, but I think you get the idea... I really liked it!

Trying to recycle/give away baby stuff

Speaking of baby food...I'm trying to give away some for FREE!!! I've tried on the other Mom board I belong to, and no takers. All food is in Jars.
Gerber-Stage 2-4 jars.
Chicken and Rice, Chicken noodle, Chicken, and Beef.
Del Monte Nature's Goodness-Stage 3 - 2 jars of Chicken noodle dinner.
I also have Similac Advance w/ Iron powder 8oz. for Free!
And if you have a diaper genie - the first one, I have 2-stage 2 refills. They are Free too!
So, If you or if you know of anyone who wants these...your more than welcome to have them.

Safeway Organics Brand Baby Food

While Jonny was at his first day in his preschool program (sniff, sniff) ,I went to Safeway to grab some milk and saw that Safeway's new brand of baby food is out. They have the same selection as Earths Best or Gerber with some new flavors too. Not a whole lot of Stage 3 choices ( meats and "dinners") yet, but Elliot wont be eating those for a few months anyway. They are normally 79 cents a jar ( Earths Best was 89 cents and Gerber was 55 cents to give you an idea) but are on sale right now for 10 for 6 dollars making them about the same price as non-organic Gerber, which is what I have been buying so far... ( Gerber is 55 cents for 3.5 oz and Safeway is 60 cents for 4 oz.) They also have all the little snacks ( puffs, biter biscuits and those little fruit pieces) that the other companies make, but organic. They are also in glass with no film over the jar, so better packaging too ( See Jennifer's baby food post :) So anyway, I stocked up and wanted to let you all know while the sale was still on in case you wanted to stock up too.

Better Chocolate and Better Coffee

Calvin and I both decided to make our vices a little kinder and greener. It's easy to find both coffee and chocolate that are fair trade (my #1 priority with these 2 items), local (#2), and organic (#3). It felt good to decide what is most important to us and then buy accordingly. Yes, we pay quite a bit more. But I feel lucky for us to be able to have these indulgences and we will enjoy them more knowing they are not at the expense of exploited workers or the environment. Plus, I've noticed that since I'm more picky about the chocolate I buy now, I have smaller amounts and enjoy it more. Plus, it's fun to try new brands... the darker the better!

I found all 3 at Olivers.

Earth Day sale on Amazon.com

They have a bunch of eco-friendly items for sale on Amazon.com for Earth Day. There is a deal on Seventh Generation products that if you spend $99 you get $20 off. Diapers and wipes are included so if you are planning on buying these soon you should check it out!

Carpooling

Matt and Calvin are carpooling today in the hybrid and are making a plan to do that on MWF! Take that, CO2 emissions!!!

Driving Better

This is inspired by Calvin who was inspired by Matt...

The other day we were riding in their hybrid and Matt was showing Calvin how the gas millage is displayed. Since then Calvin has been driving "as if" he had a hybrid and staying under the speed limit.

We drove on a long car trip today and using this method saved some gas. Maybe if Calvin has time he can reply with the details of how much fuel we saved.

Anyway I plan to follow and pretend to have a hybrid every time I drive too. Watch out fast drivers, here I come!

The 35 Gallon Challenge

So when I pulled up to my house yesterday after running an errand, I noticed that my garbage can (which was lazily left out since Fridays pick-up) had shrunk. Yep, shrunk. I was convinced that someone in my neighborhood gave me their small 35 gallon can and took my spacious 96 gallon garbage oasis. I took a closer look and realized that this small can was brand new, no residue at all at the bottom. So I called Empire Waste Management to see what was up. As it turns out they did a "route audit" and the entire time I have lived here ( 3 years in June), I have been paying for the 35 gallon can, and basically stealing 61 gallons of land fill space each and every week. Go me ...

Well the last thing I need is a more expensive bill, so Nate and I decided to see this as a challenge. We are going to try our absolute hardest to only make 35 gallons of trash a week. This means being extra diligent about recycling and using disposable things more sparingly. It will be a great green step for us. I really don't know if we can do it but we are going to try. Ill let you know on Friday how we did and I promise to admit it if I use my neighbors can when they aren't home...

Birthday

Ok, I know your going green and wanting to get organic clothing, etc...
I think it's great! But, for the sake of people who don't know your going green.
Will you accept clothes from them that were bought at Target, Macy's, Carters, Made in China, etc....Or toys for that matter?

Organic Cotton or Used

So I keep running my 1-a-day's past Calvin, thinking he might say something is a little too extreme... but so far I can't stump him, he's on board 100%! I'll keep trying. We're not going to buy clothes unless they are made of organic cotton, some other fiber that does not use pesticides, or it's used. Here's why...

I learned today (at the Green Expo) that cotton is one of the worlds most highly sprayed crops, making up 25% of insecticide use.

That got me thinking. Aside from the fact that I'd rather not have my family ingesting chemicals or possibly genetically modified food (if it's USDA approved it can't be genetically modified- I'll do a post on GMO when I have time), there are two other reasons I choose organic.

1) A big reason I buy organic food is for the environmental impact. The worst environmental impact I am aware of is chemicals finding their into our waterways.

2) The other reason I buy organic is the impact on the people who grow it. I think about the farm workers and the family owned farms. Both are affected by the large scale use of pesticides. I read today that farm workers at conventional farms are 6 times more likely to develop cancer than the average person. Check out www.nfwm.org for more info on exploited farm workers if you're interested. It's also my understanding that in many cases family farms do better when they go organic because they can sell their produce for more, allowing them to stay in business.

So I'm ready to branch out and buy not just organic food but other organic products as well.

There are a lot of great organic clothing web sites and retail stores out there. If I could I'd go on a shopping spree and support those companies and designers who are starting to change the industry. But money is a factor. I like shopping used. I think it's fun. So I'll find whatever I can used and then fill in the rest with new stuff. I'm looking forward to shopping. Honestly the best time I have clothes shopping is when I shop at Salvation Army. I feel like it's truly guilt-free shopping. The stuff is cheep, the money is going to a good cause, and I'm recycling. I realized that today Calvin, Brian, and I were all wearing stuff I got at Salvation Army. And it will be fun to find places to get new sustainable clothing.

Sales, Good Deals and Cool Products - Pass it on!

I had two ideas today that I thought we could all do if we want...

When we are out and about shopping, if we notice a good deal or sale on something that another may be interested in, we should post it! I figure over time, this will help us all learn where to get products for the best deal. With this lifestyle change comes new buying habits and stores to go to, and finding the best deal is hard with kids in tow. I am sure we would also love to save a few bucks for things like cleaning products, baby food, diapers or anything!

I have a few I saw recently:

I saw on Amazon, you can order 4 packs of Seventh Generation diapers for $42 (saves around $10 I think than buying at Whole Foods). Depending on size, it's around 150 diapers. (That's only $3 more than Huggies packs at Costco!)

I noticed at Costco, they were selling huge jugs of Ecos Laundry Detergent. I didn't see the price, but usually Costco is a decent deal.

Whole Foods had some Seventh Generation cleaning products on sale recently if anyone is looking.

Anyway, does this sound like a good idea?

Another idea I had was to post about products you may have come across. Jennifer, you have done this with the cheese, makeup, face lotion and stuff. And I really like hearing about other products before I buy.

Here's my find today: while shopping at the Farmer's Market today, I noticed a stand with Ecco Caffe, a local coffee company. So I checked out their website and their roasting facilities are in Sonoma County. They have organic coffee, fair trade coffee, water processed decaf coffee (I thought of you Jennifer) and more probably. I am probably going to try it out when my Starbucks beans run out :) Here's the website: www.eccocaffe.com

If we label these posts "good deal" and "cool product" or something like that, we can easily look at all posts written on them.

What do you all think?

Green Living Expo 2007

The Green Living Expo 2007 is Saterday April 14th, 10am to 5pm at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building.

Baby Food

I've switched from using baby food that comes in plastic containers to baby food that comes in glass jars. In the picture above I have a picture of 1)OK 2)Good 3)Better and 4)Best...

1) The plastic container is OK if recycled. But look at all the packaging. Then there's also the foil over the lid. (But as we know they do may handy little containers... reuse is always good!)

2) Glass is better for the environment. And the bigger size is good; less packaging than if you got 2 smaller jars. But Gerber uses a film over the jar than seems unnecessary, and it's not organic.

3) All the same as #2 but it's doesn't have the film and it's organic. This is what I'll buy from now on.

4) Best would be to make your own, but hey, I never said I'm perfect!!!

The following is from wikipedia.com

"Compared to glass or metallic materials, plastic poses unique challenges - because of the massive number of types of plastic, they each carry a resin identification code, and must be sorted before they can be recycled. This can be costly - while metals can be sorted using electromagnets, no such 'easy sorting' capability exists for plastics. In addition to this, while labels do not need to be removed from bottles for recycling, lids are often made from a different kind of non-recyclable plastic.

Plastics recycling rates lag far behind those of other items, such as newspaper and aluminium; consumers are typically unsure of how to recycle plastics, and compared to paper and metals fewer recycling facilities exist.

Finally, recycled plastic is less appealing to manufacturers than new plastic."

My Organic Black Beans

So we made Tacos for dinner tonight... again. I love tacos and recently at Trader Joes I picked up some newer, organic ingredients to swap with the ones I always used to buy. So all is good and we are cooking and I am reading the article from Time magazine, called "Eating better than Organic", in between chopping and stirring. Its about eating local over eating organic. Jennifer posted the link back in the early days of this blog... yes March. Here it is again:

http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101070312,00.html

So I went from being all proud that I am having Organic black beans to all disappointed that they were a " a product of China". How much fuel did it take to get these beans to Trader Joes and is that any better for the environment then eating just regular old, non-organic black beans from California?!?! In the article its referred to as as "environmental wash" meaning they both make a negative environmental impact, so the author, or the guy hes interviewing, says at that point just go with what tastes better, and of course price becomes part of it ( for me at least).

What are your thoughts on all of this? We live in California which is supposed to be one of the few areas that can grow just about anything, meaning we have access to a lot more locally grown foods then say New York. Do any of you buy local over organic? Of course both would be great...

I really want to look into buying more locally, there are just a lot of benefits for our environment and health and community that I was oblivious to (Im growing up I guess). I swear up until a few weeks ago an apple was just a flippin' apple! Now I want it to be organic and local and I want to walk to go get it! Not with everything obviously (do they even grow bananas here?).

Anyway, please share your thoughts on local vs. organic. I could never see myself adhering to the "100 mile diet", but I will definitely get my family to a farmers market a couple times a month...

Tried Cloth Diapers...

...and I like them! I really like them. I wanted to give it a try just kind of to say I'd tried cloth, I really didn't think I'd stick with it. (How's that for setting yourself up for success?!) But to my surprise I've been totally happy with using cloth and so far the service from Tidee Didee has been great.

I've had NO leeks. I do have to change Brian more often, but I don't mind. I have the diaper pail that the cloth diapers go in and a garbage right next to it that the wipes and any "solids" go in. I keep both in the garage and dealing with the diaper is really not much harder than wrapping the disposable up and pushing it into the diaper genie thing. I think the secret is all in the diaper wrap- the part that goes over the cloth diaper. The ones I got from the service are great. Even if the cloth diaper is completely soaked it doesn't get through the cover.

I'm still using Seventh Generation for the most part when we go out, but every cloth diaper I throw into the pail I feel really good that I'm keeping a disposable from the landfill. I do wonder about the impact of all the water and detergent that's used on the diapers though. I would like to do a little more research on that. If any of you have thoughts, I'd like to hear them.

The only funny thing is how round they make Brian's bottom look! Especially when I do a double diaper for his nap... he looks like a little Weeble Wobble! I think it's kind of cute though. :)

Step It Up

Here's information about a nation wide campaign that is happening tomorrow. I won't be out protesting, but I'll send my positive thoughts out as it's going on throughout the country tomorrow.

stepitup2007.org

Green Salon Review

Today my Mom (hi Mom) tried that salon in Sebastopol that Erica found. She REALLY liked it, got a very cute haircut, and has an appointment to go back for color. And she even said she'd send me for my next hair cut (thanks Mom). Maybe if anyone else is due to have their hair done (I'd like to go around my birthday- end of May), maybe could carpool and have an outting and make it even more green!

I have the link posted under green guides- beauty.

A couple questions...

Do you guys like the enviro-news thing I added?

I also added blog links, I'm hooked to a couple, thanks Sarah H.!

Do you use the green links much? I'd be happy to keep maintaining that with any new sites all you find if you want me to.

I'm really enjoying this blog as a way for us to all share in this journey.

Ok, time for bed.

No More Take-Out with Styrofoam Containers

Tonight Calvin and I were having our 5:00 what-to-have-for-dinner phone call and we decided on take-out (since he was doing an errand and would be next to Rubio's). I proposed that we refuse styrofoam for the rest of the 3 months, and he agreed.

Calvin took it as a fun challange! :) Above is the dinner he brought home. As you can see, he used the grocery bag he keeps in his car. Everything he ordered was wrapped in paper or foil. The salsa was recyclable plastic (but I like our salsa better, so I think next time I'd skip that).

This is what I found on some silly science fair website, but I thought it was a pretty good argument for why we should avoid styrfoam...

"Styrofoam is bad for the environment because it does not dissolve. It may stay in the land fill for over 400 years or more. Sometimes the Styrofoam can kill fish and animals in the ocean. The Styrofoam breaks down into little pieces and the wind carries it away to the sea. It floats on the surface of the water and the fish think that it is food so they eat it, this may cause sickness. The fish cannot digest the Styrofoam so they die. Styrofoam can also cause sickness for us. When you drink out of a Styrofoam cup, the Polystyrene (the molecule of Styrofoam) can remove from the cup and dissolve into the liquid that you drink."

gDiaper dilemma

For the past few days, I have been attempting to use the gDiapers. I bought the starter pack and it has 10 flushable diapers, 4 liners and 2 washable pants. The very first one I used leaked after about 1.5 hours. Kind of annoying! So I change it (it took three flushes to get it flushed) and Abby decides to poop. I thought she was cleared out from the poopsplosion she had earlier, but NO... Surprisingly, it all stays in the diaper! Good sign, right? But then I had to clean it up... By the end of the 10 minutes of ripping the outer part, dumping the inner parts, flushing 5 times, digging out the outer part that wouldn't flush, redumping leftover inner parts and reflushing the outer parts again, I had pee and poop all over my hands as well as pee/poop splashes on my toilet. The plunger had to be used and I HATE PLUNGING!

I pretty much decided right there we aren't using gDiapers. But I had several flushables left, so of course I want to make use of them. I am able to keep it from leaking now (although I haven't had a poopy one again so I don't know about that). The only problem is the ripping, swishing and flushing! It is considerable more work to do that part. I am okay with that if I didn't have to flush so much and get pee on my hands every single darn time.

I am hoping with more practice it'll take two flushes at most (these low-flow toilets do not deal with all that stuff at once) and less mess! I really want to like these, since I've read they are the best option for the environment. I will report back when my 10 flushables are used up...

If you want to check them out, go to www.gdiapers.com

Hanging Out Day

You may or may not know that I DESPISE laundry and anything to do with it. I often procrastinate and then complain the whole day that I have to do it. So the fact that I am willing to try this is a little nutty but here it goes... I read this article on one of the blogs I read and am wondering if anyone is willing to try this with me... for the day.

"Mark this down in your calendar: April 19 is National Hanging Out day, which is not about slackers but about hanging out your slacks, a celebration of the clothesline as an alternative to the dryer. Founded by clothesline activist Alexander Lee of laundrylist.org, it champions "the right to dry" which many people do not have due to building regulations and restrictive covenants prohibiting "ugly" clotheslines. Yet clothes dried on lines last longer, smell better and save you a lot of money.

There are 88 million dryers in America, and if everyone converted to lines it could reduce residential output of CO2 by 3.3%. “It’s a huge waste of energy to tumble dry your clothes,” said Tom Arnold, chief environmental officer of TerraPass. “It’s one of the simplest things to do to help with global warming.” ::New York Times"

I know Emily already does this... I am going to give it a try. I already have the line and clothespins...

Cheesy

All the cool blogs seem to post pictures, so I guess I'll try to every now and then too.

So, you see in the picture... on the left, my new cheese, and on the right, my old cheese.

The one on the left is very versital because it can be sliced or shreaded, comes from Petaluma, uses only a small amount of packaging, and is the best tasting cheese I've had in a long time.

The ones on the right, use more packaging, more processing, more energy, come from who knows where, cost more, and don't taste that great.

I like my new cheese. :)

Not Buying It

Following is an email Emily sent me that she asked me to post.

I like her idea of a "book club". I was thinking it would be fun to have some sort of Green Mommy get-together. Maybe we could have some sort of standing date once a month. Let me know what you think.

Jennifer

...................................................................................


Hi Jennifer -

I really enjoyed your blog entry today about shopping (or not shopping). I have had the same sorts of thoughts. I have tried to figure out why I shop and have realized that many times it is out of boredom. I think we are taught at an early age through TV commercials, peers, EVERYWHERE we turn...that shopping will make us happy, bring us excitement, contentment etc. I have been slowly learning that it does none of those things LONG term. In fact, I feel it does the opposite. The more I look around at all our "stuff" the more I feel weighted down, heavy, "consumed" as a consumer. I have caught myself buying things because they were cheap, not because I needed them MANY times. The times when I am able to resist buying something I initially had an impulse to buy or give away things that were just cluttering our lives instead of adding to our lives, I have felt lighter, even happier.

I remember during one episode on Oprah (yes I am guilty of being an Oprah watcher) she had on a guest that helped people "purge" their unnecessary belongings that were literally causing chaos in their lives, relationships, marriages, etc. These people were wading in stuff in their homes and it was all because they thought that the more "stuff" they had, the happier they would be. Anyway, he explained that many people view their stuff as a life raft/safety net when really it is an anchor pulling them down.

There is a book I have been wanting to read called "Not Buying It: My Year without Shopping" by Judith Levine, ever since I heard her interviewed on NPR's Forum program a month or two ago. I bet you can listen to it online if you wanted (kqed.org). But it was a really interesting interview about her insights, struggles, inspiration during that year of not (or very limited) buying STUFF.

I don't envision myself not buying anything for the next year, or even the next week....or day (in fact, I think in our society that is virtually impossible since we no longer make our own food, clothes etc) but I do think the book would pose some interesting discussion topics and thought if you and the other moms involved with your Eco-blog were interested, we could read the book together and set up a meeting time in the next month or two to discuss it...What do you think?

I would have posted this on your blog but I don't know how yet. I have just figured out how to comment...Maybe you could post this email on your blog and see if there is any response?

Thanks Jennifer. I appreciate your blog and have really appreciated all the ideas and insights from everyone. Living in more environmentally friendly ways is a gift to ourselves and our chidlren that will continue on for generations....

Emily

No More Target Trips

I decided tonight that for the duration of my "1 a day for 3 months" experiment I will do no more shopping at Target. This is big for me! I used to love my Target trips. I went into Target tonight and realized that if I really want to challenge myself to do things differently I need to step, or should I say shop, outside my comfort zone. I'm really trying to cut the excess out of my spending. I don't want to buy any more junk. I want to buy as locally as possible. I'm tired of buying everything from China. I don't like how lax their environment laws are and I don't want to support companies who are taking advantage of that. So yeah, maybe I'll start paying more for some stuff. But I'm ok with that. I want quality. I want to feel good about what I buy. I don't want more junk. And I also feel really good when I buy used. I took David to the Salvation Army thrift store to buy a treat the other day, and he had the best time looking at stuff. It was way more fun than any trip we've had to the toy store. I feel better when I get used kids clothes too, and they are so easy to find. I like the set up I have at Sweet Pea in Cotati. I take in the clothes that are too small for Brian and then I can use my credit to buy more clothes for Daivd, which will eventually go to Brian. (The whole having 2 boys exactly 2 years apart worked out pretty conveniently that way!) So I think incorporating more buying used will make up for the other items that may be more expensive.

Driving Less

I used to say that I HAD to get out of the house (drive somewhere) at least once a day. Today I did not drive anywhere. I have been clustering errands, and driving less. In general I'm just being a lot more aware of my driving and not just jumping in the car because I'm bored and the kids are restless. Now when I get that feeling I go for a walk. Or call Erica and see if we can come over and bug her and the girls! :)

Calvin is seriously looking into getting a commuter bike! That's a huge green step and I'm proud of him for even considering it.

We've looked into Terra Pass (see link under green resources if you're interested). Anyone done that? Or any tips on driving less?

I can't wait for the next PG&E bill!

We've always gone back and forth with how good we are about watching our energy usage. For the last few weeks we've been diligent about turning lights/stereo/TV/etc. off when we leave the room and we've kept the heater at 68 degrees. I thought that last one was going to be a tough one, but now I just layer a little more, and it's fine.

Another thing we do is we have a lot of our lights on dimmers. I think it's cozy to have dim lighting and I like that it saves energy. We got a little night light for the hallway and that makes it so we don't have to turn on the overhead lights as much.

We have some of the energy saver light bulbs, and as more go out, we'll be replacing with those.

Anyone have other tips on saving energy?

Ikea Bags

I went to Ikea this weekend and they are now charging 5 cents per plastic bag that you use... Or you can buy a reusable bag for 59 cents that easily fits the same as 4-5 plastic bags. I just wanted to share because I thought it was a cool idea...

Recycle Computer and parts

Do you know where I can go and recycle computer monitors and computer related items?
With out having to pay anything. The monitors we have should still work and we have to clear off some info from our old computers. I looked on the Empire Waste site. It says they will take those items, but it doesn't say if it costs money to recycle. I know they take small appliances in the Blue recycle bin, but I don't think computer parts.
Would Calvin know?

Composting

So I'm married to an Engineer and sometimes I can't come up with a good enough answer to his question! Erica, Emily, can you feel my pain?

So I started my little veggie and fruit compost bin to add to the yard waste bin today, and feeling quite proud of my green little self, I informed Calvin that this bin is now where we put fruit and vegetable waste and that we could dump it at the end of each day. He wondered if that was really any better than putting it down the garbage disposal. I said we're saving electricity. He said, what about the extra trips the garbage truck will make?

Thoughts?

It's not Green, but Sad....

I belong to another site www.sonomacountymom.com
Well, one of the Mom's on there just lost her husband.
She is a Mom of 2 beautiful girls. One is a teenager and the other is almost 3.
We are providing dinners thru babysitting for her.
I just can't believe it. Her husband was only 33. She is also a young Mom like us.
Things like this just make me love my husband and daughter more.

Cool Packaging

I'm becoming more concerned with the packaging now when I'm shopping. I picked up two cool new products yesterday (ok, I'm stretching for my one new thing today...) in part because of their packaging. I needed new razors and face cream. I found Preserve razors which I liked because they are made with 100% recycled plastic and I was impressed that the cardboard that held them together was made from 100% recycled paperbord (is that the same thing as cardboard?) The face cream I got was by Paneg Organics. I like it, it smells really nice. The packaging I have to say is what made me pick it over the others I was looking at. Not only is the box made of 100% recycled newspaper, it has seeds in it and it says you can soak it in water and then plant it and herbs will grow in your yard! Heck, I'll give it a try! I don't mind being won over by an eco gimmick like that. :)

Reuse

So today at my trip to Whole Foods I wanted a coffee and I forgot to bring my commuter mug but I had a Starbucks cup in the car from yesterday so I brought that in and had them put my coffee in it. I was kind of hesitant, I thought they might not want to use a Starbucks cup, or think it was weird I was bringing in a used paper cup- but the gal seemed like she could care less.

When I first started shopping with cloth bags that I bought at Oliver's (that said Oliver's on them) I was concerned that other stores might not like me advertising for them. But my experience has been that the checkers really don't care. Or they think it's great I'm saving a bag. I've only had one bagger who acted like it was a pain.

The act of using that paper cup twice before I recycled it was small, but it's the small things that add up, right?!

Safe Weed killer

The weeds in our yard are driving me nuts! You know the little yellow flowers. They are growing in out front yard, and Victoria keeps picking them. She is also creating more weeds by picking up the dandylions and spreading their seeds everywhere!
Do you know of any kid/animal safe weed killer that will NOT kill the grass?

Jenny feel free to ask your questions here...

This is for Jenny the writer doing a story on bloggers, not Jenny the blogger.

My Favorite Green Sites

I love the internet. I love surfing, shopping and chatting online. When this Green project started I used my trusty laptop to research the topic to death. In doing so I found some really cool sites and blogs that are fun to check everyday... or whenever I can. I thought I'd share them and since I know some of you are avid surfers as well I thought you could share some of yours...

Fav Sites:
www.Treehugger.com Hate the name but love the " updated all day" news and info it gives. On the right hand side of the site are Green Guides to EVERYTHING that really simplify things.

www.idealbite.com Emails you super simple tips to be or stay green, in a very modern way.

www.epa.gov Super straight forward Environmental news if you want to keep up on the latest developments... kinda boring sometimes but I like to feel smart :)

Fav Blogs (besides this one of course!)
www.greenasathistle.com Cute name, lady is doing a green thing everyday for a year... some good ideas if we run out of some on our own.

www.noimpactman.com This guy is hilarious and is dragging his wife and 2 year old along for a TOTAL (no toilet paper ?!?) green experience that is way beyond anything I will ever accomplish. But interesting to read none the less.

Ok, Elliot is awake so thats all I can type, I don't wanna lose my post so I'm gonna publish it now... Tell me your favorites sites!!

Less Paper Napkins and Towels

For the last week or so I've made a conscious effort to use less paper napkins and paper towels. I dug out the cloth napkins we have and put a supply of washcloths in the kitchen to clean up little faces and spills. I'd say I've cut back by about 50% just by having these things handy.

I'd like to go to the fabric store and get a couple yards of some fabric I like (do they carry organic cotton?) and make a ton of napkins and just replace paper napkins for the most part. Does anyone know how to sew? Anyone interested in doing the same thing? Maybe we could have a napkin making party!?

I'm Here!

I've been friends with Jenny since Middle School.
I looked around my house and discovered there are some things I already do that are "green".
The soy milk I buy is produced with natural engergy, Wind. And the make-up I use is minerals.
I would like to buy fresh produce from the farms around here. There are some things right now I can't afford money wise right now to be "green". Oliver's Market is expensive right now for us. Although, we do shop there when we need a few items. Plus, I can save gas, and walk there! Since I live in Cotati. I try my best to support the local shops so the $$$ comes back to Cotati. I also try my best to buy products that are made in Sonoma County. Eggs, for example.
And it's like Jenny said, One day at a time. Oh, I almost forgot! I also use a natural orange cleaner for my kitchen. I bought that at Oliver's. I love the smell of orange.

Today's find...

I don't know if this will excite you all like it did me, but here it is anyway...

Last weekend I was scheduled for a hair appointment for highlights. I went online to see if I could find any "eco-friendly" salons with no results, so went ahead with my regular appointment. I mentioned it to Jennifer and today she showed me an ad for Aveda products. I've used Aveda before and really like it (although not the price). So I just looked up the nearest Aveda salon, expecting it to be far away, but there is one in Sebastopol!!!! Their website is: www.troymichaelsalons.com It's pricey but not any more than the place I already went to. Getting my hair done is the one thing I totally splurge on, so now I get to do it in a green way, which is really cool :)